Alien Sex Fiend first belched out of the early 80s ruckuses sparked at the Batcave club, but there was always more to Nik and Mrs Fiend than onedimensional fop-goth antics. Their unhinged, zombie-disco vamps built on the latter’s analogue drums and warped synth-scapes, sufficiently enticing Killing Joke’s Youth to produce their 1983 debut album, Who’s Been Sleeping In My Brain?. Since then they’ve continued releasing ever-startling albums, winning fans in Alice Cooper, Beavis & Butthead and even Bowie, continuing as a disarmingly independent cottage industry with everything, including record label and artwork, done in-house.
During this murderously enjoyable set (released on both vinyl and CD), it’s possible to detect particles of psychobilly (Dance Of The Dead), PiL’s eerie motorik wail (Land Of The Living Dead), Suicide’s deathly electronic pulses (Voodoo), and even Oi! in the terrace howl of BBFC (Bastard Bastard Fuckin’ Cunt), but all gouged and distorted in the Fiends’ demonic liquidiser.
ASF have been at this long enough to have cornered the shock-rock market and now seem hell-bent on striking at grotesque aural vistas few would dare (or want) to visit. The fact they can deliver all this B-movie whoopee and rampant sonic attack with a self-effacing cackle makes them all the more endearing; even a national treasure.
